Improved oil-drill



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS H. BOWMAN, OF NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED OIL-DRlLL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,701, dated September5, 1865.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, LEwis H. BOWMAN, of Norristown, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Drills for Boring Oil and other Wells; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which- Figure l is an axial section of a drilland drill-stock made according to my invention, the letter i Fig. 2,designating the line of section. Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on theline .fr ot' Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

The object of this invention is to produce a drilling apparatus whichwill remove the broken and pulverized rock from the bore and collect itin the rod ofthe drill, at the same time discharging the water from therod, so as to allow the heavier matters to be retained in the rod untilthe receptacle provided for them is filled. This is accomplished bymeans of a tubular drill-rod containing a central tube which is directlyabove the valve-box, and an annular chamber surrounding said tube andcommnnicatin g therewith by means of perforations in the sides of thetube, through which the detritus is received into the annular chamber.

A designates a drill, which may be of the form here shown, or of anyother character and design.

B designates a tubularrod, into the bottom of which the stock of thedrill is screwed. This stock is also tubular, and has lateral openingson each face ot' the cutter. The top of the drillstock forms a seat fora ball or other suitable valve, which plays in a valve-box, fi, formedin the adjacent part of the drill-rod.

The letter a designates an internal flange formed on the innercircumference of the drillrod at the top of the valve-box t', and theletterf designates a like flange on its inner circumference, near itstop.

C is a tube small enough in diameter to pass up within the drillrodthrough its flange a; but the lower end ofthe tube is prevented frompassing beyond and above the :ilange by a collar, b, which abuts againstit. This arrangement leaves the collar or end of the tube in the highestpart of the valve-box i. The central tube, C, is not so long as thedrill-rod, and its sides near its end are freely perforated with holesd, which make a communication between the tube C and the annular spaceJ, formed between it and the sides of the drill-rod7 while an internalscrew-thread is cut on its end to enable it to receive the solid end cof a supplementary tube, C', which is continued upward until it extendsoutjof and beyond the top of' the drill-rod. This tube C has also a angeor collar, b, which, when the solid end c is screwed down into the topof the tube C, rests snugly upon the iiangef of the drill-rod. By thisarrangement the tube G is held iirrnly supported within the drill-rod,and its lower flange or collar, b, is drawn snugly up against the top ofthe valve-box, so as to leave the valve unmolested.v The lower part ofthe tube C- that part which is below its collar b-is perforated withnumerous holes e, which open in like manner into the annular space J ofthe drillrod. The tube C is secured to the top of the drill-rod, and atight and strong joint is made between them by means of a coupling, h,with an external screwthread, which engages a screw-thread cut on theinside of the top ot' the drill. The tube C may be continued above thisjoint for any convenient length. In this example of my invention I havecarried it up only a short distance, and have made a swivel at its top,whereby it may be connected to any rope or rod for operating the drill.I have also perforated its sides above the joint at the top of thedrill-rod with numerous holes g, which, however, may be dispensed withit' the top of the tube C is open.

The operation of this improvement is as follows: The pulverized andbroken rock and other substances (solid and fluid) which are collectedand produced at the bottom of the bore will be forced at each descent ofthe drill past the valve D into the tube C. Ihen this tube is filled upto the perforations d these substances will be discharged through theminto the annular space J, into the bottom of which the heavymatters-such as earth and rockwill be collected, while the liquid matterwill be forced by the continual accumulations made in the tube C and inthe space J upward beyond the tube C to the perforations e, throughwhich they Will be discharged into the tube C', and at the top of which,or through its perforations g, they will eventually be discharged intothe bore of the well. When the annular chamber J is lled with solidmatter the drill is raised from the bore and the chamber is emptied.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Forming a supplementary chamber, J, within the walls of a tubulardrll-rod for receiving the detritus of therock and otherheavy matterfrom the chamber next above thevalve, substantially as described.

LE WIS H. BOWMAN.

Witnesses SAML. BROWN, J r., EMANUEL BURKERT.

